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New York Represents 18% of High School Indoor Track Participation in the United States

I went to my first indoor track & field meet in 1974. As a sophomore, I joined the upper classman from Desmet to watch them run the mile, 880 and 4 x 880 relay. The meet was run on the hardwood floor of an Armory in the St. Louis area. What mesmerized me was the team from East St. Louis that ran, and won the mile relay in high top Chuck Taylors, sliding around the turns and flying on the short straights. The crowd was small but loud, and I was hooked-this was so cool.

On our mile relay team, was one of my classmates, Perez Maxwell. Perez was tall, fast and had the long, strong legs of a 400 meter runner. While Perez was fast, it was his good luck routine that amazed me. Perez had a large Afro, a very popular haircut in the 70s, and he placed his hair pick in his hair, and ALWAYS ran with it. I was amazed it never fell out. And Perez literally flew around the armory, which was three loops to a 440.

I did not run my first indoor meet until 1980, when I ran a 3,000 meters on a 11 lap to the mile track. The bouncing, the closeness of the crowd, the excitement, I can still remember.

I went to my first Millrose Games in 1986, and that was a revelation. What a fantastic meet. In 2011, I finally visited the Armory and was caught once again, in the magic of indoor track & field!

It is so fantastic to see the strength of the indoor track & field in 2013! Special thanks to our intern, Kevin Mangan and our public relations support, Breanne Ward in preparing this report!

New York Represents 18% of High School Indoor Track Participation in the United States

MADISON - American Track and Field magazine would like to honor New York for ranking first among all states in 2013 indoor track participation with 24,763 participants for both boys and girls.

According to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) records, 135,789 high school athletes competed for their schools during the 2013 indoor season. New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Virginia and Maryland represented 65% of the country's participants. The top 10 in its entirety is as follows:

New York - 24,763 (18%)

New Jersey - 21,486 (16%)

Massachusetts - 18,751(14%)

Virginia - 12,586 (9%)

Maryland - 10,185 (8%)

* Percentage in parenthesis indicates rounded percentage of total United States participants that the respective state represents.

"Indoor track & field offers many young athletes their first taste of high school athletics. We applaud the support of the coaches, officials, and event staffs who have revitalized indoor track & field," said Larry Eder, AT&F publisher.

American Track & Field is a professional publication dedicated to improving the image and performances of American track and field, cross country and race walking athletes. AT&F has 37, 553 subscribers, and is in its 20th year. By becoming a go to source for training information, ATF takes a grassroots approach to improving the coaching quality of the 1.51 million serious athletes across these disciplines by providing coaches with professional and accurate coaching and training content. For more information, visit www.american-trackandfield.com.